electronics

Article
Low-Cost Education Kit for Teaching Basic Skills for Industry
4.0 Using Deep-Learning in Quality Control Tasks
Martin Pajpach * , Oto Haffner * , Erik Kučera and Peter Drahoš

Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava,
841 04 Bratislava, Slovakia; [email protected] (E.K.); [email protected] (P.D.)
* Correspondence: [email protected] (M.P.); [email protected] (O.H.)

Abstract: The main purposes of this paper are to offer a low-cost solution that can be used in
engineering education and to address the challenges that Industry 4.0 brings with it. In recent years,
there has been a great shortage of engineering experts, and therefore it is necessary to educate the
next generation of experts, but the hardware and software tools needed for education are often
expensive and access to them is sometimes difficult, but most importantly, they change and evolve
rapidly. Therefore, the use of cheaper hardware and free software helps to create a reliable and
suitable environment for the education of engineering experts. Based on the overview of related
works dealing with low-cost teaching solutions, we present in this paper our own low-cost Education
Kit, for which the price can be as low as approximately EUR 108 per kit, for teaching the basic
skills of deep learning in quality-control tasks in inspection lines. The solution is based on Arduino,
TensorFlow and Keras, a smartphone camera, and is assembled using LEGO kit. The results of the
work serve as inspiration for educators and educational institutions.






Keywords: low-cost; education; Industry 4.0; Arduino; Keras; LEGO; deep learning; inspection;
Citation: Pajpach, M.; Haffner, O.;
machine vision; convolution neural network
Kučera, E.; Drahoš, P. Low-Cost
Education Kit for Teaching Basic
Skills for Industry 4.0 Using
Deep-Learning in Quality Control
Tasks. Electronics 2022, 11, 230.
1. Introduction
https://doi.org/10.3390/ Experts in a number of academic and practical fields are required in today’s industry.
electronics11020230 Education institutions and colleges have been requested to integrate Industry 4.0 meth-
ods and features into present curricula to ensure that future graduates are not caught
Academic Editor: Savvas
unawares by the industry’s changing expectations. Cyber-physical systems are just one of
A. Chatzichristofis
the numerous major change agents in engineering education [1].
Received: 9 December 2021 Companies and higher education institutions recognize a need to teach employees
Accepted: 10 January 2022 digital skills and basic programming [2] as a result of new trends and the new capabilities
Published: 12 January 2022 demanded by the labour market [3]. Higher education has become more competitive
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral between institutions and countries, and European universities have modified their teaching
with regard to jurisdictional claims in techniques [4] in order to create increasingly skilled workers in many fields of knowl-
published maps and institutional affil- edge [2].
iations. Nowadays, with the tremendous growth of Industry 4.0, the demands for product
quality control and enhancement are continuously increasing. The aim of quality control is
to objectively assess the conformity of a product to requirements, identify nonconformi-
ties, prevent the further advancement of defective products, and based on the processed
Copyright: © 2022 by the authors. inspection results, take steps to prevent errors in the production process. At the same time,
Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Industry 4.0 brings opportunities to achieve these requirements. Among other things, it
This article is an open access article
represents a major advance in process automation and optimization and the digitalization
distributed under the terms and
of data collection [5,6].
conditions of the Creative Commons
The transformation of data into digital form, brought about by Industry 4.0, was one
Attribution (CC BY) license (https://
of the fundamental factors that enabled the formation of Quality 4.0. Its use reduces errors,
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/
removes barriers to interoperability and collaboration, and simply enables traceability and
4.0/).

Electronics 2022, 11, 230. https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics11020230 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/electronics

Electronics 2022, 11, 230 2 of 20

further development. The basic tools of Quality 4.0 include the management and analysis
of large volumes of data, the use of modern technologies (Internet of Things (IoT), Cloud
computing), as well as machine vision applications with the support of deep learning [2,7].
Machine vision, as a new technology, offers reliable and fast 24/7 inspections and as-
sists manufacturers in improving the efficiency of industrial operations. Machine vision has
rapidly replaced human eyesight in many areas of industry, as well as in other sectors [8].
The data made available by vision equipment will be utilized to identify and report
defective products, as well as to analyse the reasons for shortcomings and to enable prompt
and efficient intervention in smart factories [9]. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Computer
Vision as the smart technologies have received significant attention in recent years, mainly
due to their contributions to Intelligent Manufacturing Systems [10]. Research activities
have been conducted in recent years in order to introduce intelligent machine vision
systems for defective product inspection, based on the exploitation of gathered information
by various integrated technologies into modern manufacturing lines, using a variety of
machine-learning techniques [11,12].
The application of machine vision with deep-learning support as an aforementioned
Quality 4.0 tool represents a major shift in the quality monitoring of products in the
production process, and is becoming the new prevailing trend of inspection [13]. Among
other things, this approach brings [14]:
• The possibility of decentralized management and decision making,
• Increased system autonomy,
• Fast and stable identification of defective products independent of the user and the
time of use,
• The ability to react flexibly when adjusting the controlled product,
• The ability to solve complex tasks,
• An all-in-one solution without the need for additional special HW or SW.
For this direction of quality control, which brings with it many advantages, to be
further expanded, it is necessary to educate new generations of young engineers and
experts in this field, who will build on the already-known information and further develop
this direction. There are commercial systems that students could use during their studies
to learn about this field, such as Cognex In-Sight D900 [15], which includes the deep-
learning In-Sight ViDi [16] software (SW) from Cognex, but the price is quite high, so their
application in the learning process is practically unrealistic. It is for this reason that we
decided to prepare our own Education Kit, based on available and cheap hardware (HW)
resources such as Arduino [17], LEGO [18] building set, smartphone camera, and open-
source software tools such as Python [19], Tensorflow [20] and Keras [21], so that students
can acquire basic skills using deep learning in quality control tasks on the model line.
The paper is organized into six sections: Section 2 deals with a deep overview of related
work aimed at the need for education on Industry 4.0 technologies, low-cost solutions
for modern technology education, Arduino-based low-cost solutions and LEGO-based
low-cost solutions. Section 3 describes proposing of our low-cost education kit and its
hardware and software parts. In Section 4, the results of experimental evaluations of the
proposed education kit are presented. In Section 5, we discuss the evaluation of the results,
possible improvements and limitations. In Section 6 we conclude the whole work.

2. Related Works
In this section, we will address the need to educate the next generation of engineering
experts, of which there is still a shortage. We will also present several low-cost solutions
that can be used in their training.

2.1. Urge for Education of Industry 4.0 Technologies

To teach interdisciplinary knowledge in engineering programs, research and computer
laboratories must be updated. Complex modules must be incorporated in the process, as
well as real-world components. Individual HW and SW modules for modelling, testing,
Electronics 2022, 11, 230 3 of 20

and creation of optimal production lines, cognitive robots, communication systems, and
virtual reality models to demonstrate functionality of individual processes but also to
evaluate reconfiguration of processes and the impact of smart features and embedded
control systems on the design of production processes, are examples of this trend in
teaching processes in the automotive industry [22].
Universities highlight their position as testbeds for innovation and educators for future
generations in developing future technologies. Traditional education has made a significant
contribution to present levels of industrial development and technical progress. However,
in order for higher education to provide future generations with the necessary skills and
knowledge, it is critical to consider how the Fourth Industrial Revolution will effect higher
education institutions [1]. As a result, one of the top concerns of colleges and academic
institutions is to incorporate Industry 4.0 concepts into engineering curricula [23].
With sensors incorporated in almost all industrial components and equipment, ubiq-
uitous cyber-physical systems, and analysis of all important data, Engineering 4.0 educa-
tion [24] should focus on skills that lead to digitalization in the manufacturing sector [25].
New, multifunctional professions are required as a result of Industry 4.0. These new pro-
fessionals will need to expand their understanding of information technology and the
procedures in which it must and should be implemented [26]. According to the report
“High-tech skills and leadership for Europe”, there was a deficit of 500,000 IT experts in
Europe in 2020 [27].
Because of their contributions to Intelligent Manufacturing Systems, the Artificial
Intelligence and Computer Vision areas have grown in importance in recent years [10].
Smart factories require great precision and accuracy in the measurements and inspec-
tion of industrial gears as a result of technological advancements and the realizations of
Industry 4.0. For such demanding applications, machine vision technology allows for
image-based inspection and analysis. Human expertise in the area of computer vision
is rapidly evolving. Visual sensors, unlike other types of sensors, can theoretically span
the entire amount of information required for autonomous driving, registration of traffic
violations, numerous medical duties, and so on, due to the fullness of image information.
The demand for computer-vision specialists is increasing by the day. Simultaneously, it
is important to educate the fundamentals of computer vision to specialists in application
domains [28].
The Swedish initiative Ingenjör4.0 [29] represents an interesting education program. It
is a unique, web module-based upskilling program developed in cooperation by 13 Swedish
universities. The modules can be combined as the participant wishes, making it easy to
customise the upskilling based on the unique needs of the company and individual. Ingen-
jör4.0 allows for a one-of-a-kind, innovative, large-scale, and life-long learning experience
for industry professionals. It is aimed at professionals with an engineering background—
but also at other professionals such as operators, technicians, management, etc., with an
interest in smart and connected production.

2.2. Low-Cost Solutions for Modern Technology Education

In recent years, digitalization has played an increasingly essential role in solving these
challenges and expectations in students’ education. Several studies say that the trend
of digitalization in education is one of the most current solutions in the face of Industry
4.0 [30]. It is critical to offer courses aimed on Industry 4.0 technologies at a reasonable
cost, as this is critical for students in nations where Industry 4.0 is developing with a
lower quality and for the country overall. Many higher education institutions, faculties,
and universities, have found a solution in the use of less expensive hardware, such as
microcontroller platforms, sensors, and actuators, as well as software that can be used to
program the hardware and is free for educational purposes [31], which can definitely help
students in approaching programming industrial equipment and machines. Traditional
hands-on laboratories are critical in engineering for students to learn engineering practical
skills. However, due to a large number of students, economic factors (a significant number
Electronics 2022, 11, 230 4 of 20

of resources, such as equipment and rooms, but also employees), or time constraints, it is
not always possible to build as many practical sessions as the professors like [32].
This article [32] describes a student initiative to design and install a low-cost, machine
vision-based, quality control system within a learning factory. A prototype system was
created utilizing low-cost hardware and freely available open-source software.
The development and implementation of two experimental boards for the myDAQ are
described in this paper [33], plus an experimental board for operational amplifiers and a
single-quadrant multiplier. These two experimental boards increase the number of remote
exercises available for electrical and electronic engineering instruction, making them an
ideal complement to existing systems.
This study [32] proposes the usage of a remote laboratory assigned to online practical
activities for students. The hands-on laboratory has a power system where the practical
aspects of photovoltaic studies can be taught. Photovoltaic modules or a programmable
source, a low-cost DC/DC buck-boost converter, and a load, make up the system. The
online laboratory increases learners’ autonomy in conducting experiments and has a
beneficial influence on students’ motivation [32].
Paper [34] describes the design of the FYO (Follow Your Objective) platform, a low-
cost tangible programming platform made up of a physical intuitive programming board,
puzzle-based tangible blocks, and a zoomorphic mobile robot that could be used to teach
and improve programming skills in children as young as six years old. The preliminary
trials and platform findings are analysed and presented; the results demonstrate that a
physical puzzle-based platform can improve children’s programming skills.
In this work [35], an approach for emulating real-world embedded systems using low-
cost, single-board computer hardware is given, allowing students to focus on the critical
parts of system design. A customised teaching scenario that includes a laboratory vehicle
built with low-cost hardware allows for practical teachings in the field of “Connected Car
Applications” (Car2x). The evaluation results illustrate the practical viability, as well as its
widespread acceptability and positive impact on learning success.
Authors in [36] believe that because of the rapid improvements in technology, educa-
tors are constantly challenged to come up with new and relevant laboratory projects. This
can be a time-consuming and costly process that, if neglected, will result in out-of-date
laboratory projects and a decline in student learning outcomes. They made a construction
of three different laboratory projects created for electrical engineering students, exempli-
fying a technique that can handle this difficulty using low-cost modern technology and
supervised student work.
The authors in [37] present the TekTrain project. It aims to create an innovative
system that includes a highly customizable hardware platform as well as a dedicated
software framework. TekTrain was created to help students improve their programming
and technical skills while broadening their STEM (science, technology, engineering, and
mathematics) knowledge. Its core competencies are modularity and the ability to integrate
a wide range of sensors, all of which are adaptable to the needs of the user. The iterative
procedure for developing the robotic platform that enables the execution of Internet of
Things applications, as well as its features, are presented in this paper.

2.3. Arduino-Based Low-Cost Solutions

The use of a low-cost laboratory tool called Flexy2 for control education is described
in this work [38]. A computer fan serves as an actuator, and a flexible resistor serves as
a sensor, in this simple air-flow dynamical system. Flexy2 is intended to aid practical
learning in courses involving automatic control and programming [38].
Arduino’s popularity has risen in recent years, mainly due to its role in the Internet
of Things, which is having a significant impact across a variety of industries (industry,
transportations, energy, agriculture, home automation, etc.). Several national and European
programs have been established to train EU businesses on how to embrace and spread IoT
technologies. In this paper, we explain the creation of an Arduino remote lab to support
Electronics 2022, 11, 230 5 of 20

online, IoT-learning, experimentation environments, which are critical for providing high-
quality IoT education programs [39].
The goal of this article [40] is to describe the design and construction of a low-cost
laboratory plant for control system training. A DC motor with an incremental quadratic
encoder is included in the equipment. To create a digital control system, the Arduino
platform is used. Raspberry Pi may also be used to communicate with laboratory equipment
and the REX Control System to create control algorithms.
Authors in [41,42] describe an experimental, Arduino-based, low-cost, self-balancing
robot designed for control teaching at the University of Seville. The fundamental idea
is that by building and controlling this robot, students may learn electronics, computer
programming, modelling, control, and signal processing.
In paper [43], authors use the Arduino platform for their low-cost teaching devices
such as the Thermo-opto-mechanical system TOM1A, a mobile robot of Segway type, an
RC-circuit and D/A converter, for analysis of simple dynamical systems or the model of
the hydraulic system with three connected tanks [43].
This study [44] presents a novel, open-source didactic device for control systems’
engineering education, which uses thermal control of a 3D printer heating block as the
underlying dynamic process. The teaching aid is constructed on a printed circuit board
that replicates the physical outline and standardized electrical connections of the Arduino
Uno microcontroller prototyping board. The teaching tool described here can be produced
at a low cost, making it available to students as a take-home experiment.
A new reference design for an air levitation system is presented in [45] in order to
educate control engineering and mechatronics. The device is designed as a swappable and
compact expansion shield for Arduino prototyping boards with embedded microcontrollers.
To encourage quick and low-cost replication, the fully documented hardware design
incorporates off-the-shelf electronic components and 3D printed mechanical elements, as
well as editable design files available online.
Paper [46] describes an apparatus that fits on a standard expansion module format
known as a Shield, and is compatible with a variety of microcontroller prototyping boards
from the Arduino ecosystem. This low-cost, compact, repeatable, and open design is
aimed at assisting control systems or mechatronics instruction through hands-on student
experimentation or even low-cost research.
The well-known ball-on-beam laboratory experiment, in which a spherical ball without
direct actuation is merely balanced by the inclination of a supporting structure, such as a
beam, rail, or tube, is described in this article [47]. The design presented here is entirely
open-source, relying on only a few off-the-shelf components and 3D printing to achieve
an extremely cheap hardware cost. Furthermore, the final equipment fits on a standard
extension module format known as a Shield, which is compatible with a variety of Arduino-
compatible microcontroller prototyping boards

2.4. LEGO-Based Low-Cost Solutions

LEGO presents tools that encourage students to think creatively in a playful way.
LEGO encourages children to think analytically because there are no rules, allowing
the students to make their own. This improves the student’s problem-solving methods,
organization, and preparation prior to construction [48].
A typical control systems laboratory usually costs thousands of dollars to set up. The
use of LEGO NXT kits and ROBOTC software to teach a control systems laboratory to
undergraduate engineering students is described in this study [49]. The gear and software
together cost less than USD 350, making this a very cost-effective option for setting up a
control systems laboratory.
The goal of this work [50] is to create a model that can emulate a human hand
using LEGO Mindstorms EV3 as an educational tool for students. It would be exciting if
students could design an exoskeleton system that met their needs. The use of LEGO as a
Electronics 2022, 11, 230 6 of 20

platform can simplify and reduce the cost of explaining robotics, mechanical design, and
biomedical applications.

2.5. Summary of Related Works

Based on an in-depth review of the literature, it can be stated that the use of low-cost
equipment and the design of low-cost kits is a common thing in academic and university
practice. The results of the survey confirm that it is possible to use low-cost equipment
to teach high-tech technologies in the context of Industry 4.0. The use of hardware such
as the Arduino or the LEGO kit has proven to be popular in academia. This inspired and
encouraged us to create our own low-cost kit. In addition, we found that the topic we want
to address (deep learning, machine vision, quality control) is not addressed in these works,
and our kit can therefore be a benefit in this area.
The deep overview of the literature can also serve readers and especially university
lecturers as a source of inspiration and encouragement for their future research or de-
velopment of their own low-cost educational solutions. The rapid digitalisation of the
industry urges the learning of new digital technologies, which is not limited to students at
universities.

3. Materials and Methods

This part of the article will be devoted to the goals and tasks of our Education Kit, as
well as their elaboration. We will present the design of the hardware part of the Kit and the
software solution of the tasks that we have decided to solve with our Education Kit in the
teaching process to begin with.

3.1. Goal and Tasks of Education Kit

Our goal was to design an Education Kit for the purpose of teaching machine vision
with the support of deep learning, that would be simple, inexpensive, illustrative, easy
to modify, and, most importantly, that students would enjoy working with it and that it
would stimulate their desire for exploration. In proportion to this goal, we also decided to
choose different levels of difficulty for the tasks:
1. Simple binary classification task (checking the quality of the OK/NOK state of the
product, while the trained convolutional neural network (CNN) knows both states),
2. More complex one-class classification (OCC) task (quality control of the OK/NOK
state of a product, where the trained convolutional neural network only knows the
OK state and has to correctly distinguish all other products as NOK).

3.2. Preparation of the Hardware Part of the Education Kit

As we wanted to keep our kit simple in every way, the design of the production line
made in the Inventor environment, which can be seen in Figure 1, was simple and easy
to understand. The design consists of a loading slider (1) which is used to let the product
onto the conveyor belt (2), then once the product on the belt reaches the camera tunnel
(3), a signal is sent to the smartphone (4) to create an image which is further evaluated
by the convolutional neural network in the computer, and based on the prediction of the
convolutional neural network, the sorting mechanism (5) at the end of the line classifies
the product.
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Figure 1. Design
Figure1. Design of
of the
the production
production line
line in
in Inventor:
Inventor: 1—loading
1—loading slider,
slider, 2—conveyor
2—conveyor belt,
belt,3—camera
3—camera
standin
stand inconnection
connectionwith
withthe
thecamera
cameratunnel,
tunnel,4—mobile,
4—mobile,5—sorting
5—sortingmechanism.
mechanism.

To
Toensure
ensurethat
thatthe
thecomponents
componentsfor forour
ourEducation
EducationKit Kitarearesimple
simple and
and easily
easily accessible
accessible
we have chosen:
we have chosen:
•• LEGO LEGObuilding
buildingset setfor
forbuilding
buildingthetheline,
line,
•• Arduino
Arduino UNO for controlling sensorsand
UNO for controlling sensors andactuators,
actuators,
•• A A smartphone camera to capture imagesof
smartphone camera to capture images ofproducts
productson onthe
theconveyor
conveyorline.
line.
Starting from the proposed model of the production line
Starting from the proposed model of the production line and the selected and the selected components
compo-
that should make up the line, we have created a model of the production
nents that should make up the line, we have created a model of the production line, line, which can
which
be seen in Figure 2. The production line assembled from the LEGO
can be seen in Figure 2. The production line assembled from the LEGO building set con- building set consists
of a loading
sists sliderslider
of a loading (1), a(1),
conveyor belt belt
a conveyor (2), a(2),
camera stand
a camera standin combination
in combination with a camera
with a cam-
tunnel (3), a sorting mechanism (4), an Arduino UNO (5) for controlling
era tunnel (3), a sorting mechanism (4), an Arduino UNO (5) for controlling the sensors the sensors and
actuators, but also for communication with the computer, an H-bridge
and actuators, but also for communication with the computer, an H-bridge L298N (6) to L298N (6) to control
the motors
control theofmotors
line, a battery
of line, pack (7) topack
a battery power (7)the
to line motors,
power an infrared
the line motors,(IR) obstacle sen-
an infrared (IR)
sor TCRT5000 (8) built into the leg of the camera tunnel to record
obstacle sensor TCRT5000 (8) built into the leg of the camera tunnel to record the the presence of thepresence
product
in
of the
thecamera
producttunnel,
in the and
cameraservomotors
tunnel, and controlling
servomotorsthe line movements
controlling the (9–11)—twice
line movements DS04
(9–
360 for the loading slider and conveyor belt and once FS90R for sorting mechanism.
11)—twice DS04 360 for the loading slider and conveyor belt and once FS90R for sorting
mechanism.
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Figure
Figure 2.
2. LEGO
LEGO bricks
bricks production
production line—front
line—front view:
view: 1—loading
1—loading slider,
slider, 2—conveyor
2—conveyor belt,
belt, 3—camera
3—camera
stand in connection with camera tunnel, 4—sorting mechanism, 5—Arduino UNO, 6—double H-
stand in connection with camera tunnel, 4—sorting mechanism, 5—Arduino UNO, 6—double H-
bridge L298N, 7—battery pack, 8—infrared obstacle sensor TCRT5000, 9, 10—servomotors DS04
bridge L298N, 7—battery pack, 8—infrared obstacle sensor TCRT5000, 9, 10—servomotors DS04 360,
360, 11—servomotor FS90R.
11—servomotor FS90R.
The
The components
components ofof our
our production line, such
production line, such as
as Arduino
Arduino UNO,
UNO, H-bridge
H-bridge oror IR
IR sensor
sensor
and servomotors, were
and servomotors, were chosen
chosen according
according to to our
our experience
experience thatthat we have gained
we have gained while
while
studying and teaching how to work with different types of development
studying and teaching how to work with different types of development boards. The boards. The Ar-
duino UNO, as an open-source project created under The Creative Commons
Arduino UNO, as an open-source project created under The Creative Commons licenses [51]licenses [51]
gives
gives us
us the
the possibility
possibility to
to use
use any
any of
of its
its many
many clones
clones at
at any
any time
time when
when wewe need
need toto reduce
reduce
the
the production
production costs
costs of
of our
our Education
Education Kit,
Kit, which
which has
has been
been met
met with
with aa positive
positive response.
response.
The remaining
The remaining components
components are are commonly
commonly used used during
during teaching
teaching and
and are
are thus
thus familiar
familiar toto
students and available in stores selling Arduino accessories. The wiring diagram
students and available in stores selling Arduino accessories. The wiring diagram of the of the
components
components connected
connected toto the
the Arduino
Arduino cancan be
be seen
seen in
in Figure
Figure 3.3.

3.3. Preparation of the Software Part of the Education Kit

Before preparing the datasets and designing the convolutional neural network archi-
tecture, we designed a flowchart of the processes running on the line during production.
The processes of the production line should simulate serial production and therefore they
run in an infinite loop. We designed the process of production to stop the production line
once no product arrived in front of the IR sensor in last 15 s. The process diagram, which
can be seen in Figure 4, includes processes controlled by the Arduino, such as:
• Opening and closing the loading slider, where after opening it is possible to insert the
product into the production process,
• Operating the conveyor belt, ensuring the movement of the product through the
production line and stopping the product in the camera tunnel after it has been
detected by the IR sensor,
• Reading the value of the IR sensor,
• Sorting products with the sorting mechanism, used to separate OK and NOK products
according to the result of convolutional neural network prediction.
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Figure 3. Arduino wiring diagram.
Figure 3. Arduino wiring diagram.

3.3. Preparation of the Software Part of the Education Kit

Before preparing the datasets and designing the convolutional neural network archi-
tecture, we designed a flowchart of the processes running on the line during production.
The processes of the production line should simulate serial production and therefore they
run in an infinite loop. We designed the process of production to stop the production line
once no product arrived in front of the IR sensor in last 15 s. The process diagram, which
can be seen in Figure 4, includes processes controlled by the Arduino, such as:
• Opening and closing the loading slider, where after opening it is possible to insert
the product into the production process,
• Operating the conveyor belt, ensuring the movement of the product through the pro-
duction line and stopping the product in the camera tunnel after it has been detected
by the IR sensor,
• Reading the value of the IR sensor,
• Sorting products with the sorting mechanism, used to separate OK and NOK prod-
ucts according to the result of convolutional neural network prediction.
The diagram also includes processes controlled by an application written in Python,
running on a computer that provides the user with a simple graphical user interface (GUI),
shown in Figure 5 with the choice to save the snapshots, to display the product currently
being evaluated, and to display the result of the prediction of the convolutional neural
network.

Figure 4. Process diagram (dashed line—information flow).

Figure 4. Process diagram (dashed line—information flow).
Electronics 2022, 11, 230 10 of 20

The diagram also includes processes controlled by an application written in Python,

running on a computer that provides the user with a simple graphical user interface
(GUI), shown in Figure 5 with the choice to save the snapshots, to display the product
currently being evaluated, and to display the result of the prediction of the convolutional
neural
Figure network.
4. Process diagram (dashed line—information flow).

Electronics 2022, 10, x FOR PEER REVIEW 11 of 21

Figure5.5.GUI
Figure GUIof
ofthe
theapplication
applicationduring
duringproduct
productclassification
classificationininthe
thefirst
firsttask.
task.

Since
Since we
we decided
decided to
to start
start with
with two
two tasks
tasks of
of different
different difficulty,
difficulty, itit was
was necessary
necessary to
to
specify
specify the process for each task. For binary product classification, i.e., classification where
the process for each task. For binary product classification, i.e., classification where
the
thetrained
trainedconvolutional
convolutionalneural
neuralnetwork
networkcancandistinguish
distinguish between
between just two
just known
two knownproduct
prod-
types, the procedure is relatively straightforward. First, we needed to create a
uct types, the procedure is relatively straightforward. First, we needed to create a datasetdataset of
product images, which can be seen in Figure
of product images, which can be seen in Figure 6.6.

Figure6.
Figure 6. Products
Productsfor
forthe
thefirst
firsttask:
task: (a)
(a)NOK
NOK(wheel
(wheelwithout
withoutspoke),
spoke),(b)
(b)OK
OK(wheel
(wheelwith
withspoke).
spoke).

Both products were

Both were photographed
photographedininthe thecamera
cameratunnel
tunnelin in
different positions
different positionson the
on
the production
production lineline
andand withwith different
different rotation
rotation of theofproducts.
the products. Subsequently,
Subsequently, in order
in order to in-
to increase
crease the dataset
the dataset sizeimprove
size and and improve the robustness
the robustness of the of the neural
neural network network
in futurein predic-
future
prediction, we applied
tion, we applied brightness
brightness adjustment,
adjustment, Figure
Figure 7, and
7, and noise(Gauss,
noise (Gauss,salt
salt &
& pepper,
speckle),
speckle), Figure 8, 8, to
tothe
theimages.
images.TheThe final
final dataset
dataset contained
contained a total
a total of 3000
of 3000 imagesimages of
of both
both product
product states—OK
states—OK and NOK,
and NOK, whichwhich
were were represented
represented in theindataset
the dataset
in thein the 50:50.
ratio ratio
50:50. Overall,
Overall, 1920 images
1920 images of the of the dataset
dataset werefor
were used used for training,
training, 600 for600 for testing
testing and the and the
rest—
rest—480 images—were
480 images—were used used for validation.
for validation.
 production lineproduction line and with
and with different different
rotation of therotation
products.of Subsequently,
the products. Subsequently,
in order to in- in order to in-
crease the dataset size and improve the robustness of the
crease the dataset size and improve the robustness of the neural network in futureneural network in future predic-
predic-
tion, we applied brightness adjustment, Figure 7, and noise (Gauss, salt & pepper,salt & pepper,
tion, we applied brightness adjustment, Figure 7, and noise (Gauss,
speckle),
speckle), Figure 8, to theFigure
images.8, The
to the images.
final Thecontained
dataset final dataset contained
a total a total of
of 3000 images of3000
bothimages of both
product states—OK and NOK, which were represented in
product states—OK and NOK, which were represented in the dataset in the ratio 50:50. the dataset in the ratio 50:50.
Electronics 2022, 11, 230 11 of 20
Overall,of1920
Overall, 1920 images images were
the dataset of theused
dataset
for were used600
training, forfor
training,
testing600
andfor
thetesting
rest— and the rest—
480 images—were480 images—were used for validation.
used for validation.

Figure
Figure
Figure 7. Adjusting 7.brightness:
the7. Adjusting the
Adjusting(a) brightness:
thedarkening, (a)
brightness:(b) darkening,
darkening, (b)
(a)lightening. (b) lightening.
lightening.

Figure 8. Noise
Figure 8. Noise application: application:
(a) Gaussian, (b)(a) Gaussian,
S&P, (b) S&P, (c) speckle.
(c) speckle.
Figure 8. Noise application: (a) Gaussian, (b) S&P, (c) speckle.

Next,
Next,a we
Next, we designed wedesigned
designeda aneural
convolutional convolutional
convolutional
network, neural network,
neural
whose network,
block whose block
whose
diagram bediagram
canblock can be
diagram
seen canseen
be
in Figure
seen
in Figure 9, and 9,
in Figure
according and
to 9, according
and
the to
according
proposed the proposed
to the proposed
architecture, architecture,
we then we
architecture, then built
we then
built and trained and
a built trained a
con- and trained con-a
volutional
convolutional
volutional neural network neural
neural
model network
innetworkmodel
Python model in in
Python
containing twocontaining
Python containing two
twoconvolutional
convolutional with layers
convolutional
layers layers with
with
ReLU ReLU
ReLU
activation activation
activation
functions, two functions,
functions,
max two max
twolayers,
pooling pooling
max pooling
a layers,
layers,
flattening a flattening
a flattening
layer, a fully layer, a fully connected
layer, a fully connected
connected
nics 2022, 10, x FOR PEER REVIEW 12 of 21
layer,
layer, and an output and
layer, and
layeranwith
an output
output layer with
layer with aa activation
a sigmoid-type sigmoid-type
sigmoid-type activation
activation
function. function.
function.
The video The
The
example video
video example of
of example of
Task
Task 1
1 can
can
Task 1 can be seen in [52]. be
be seen
seen in
in [52].
[52].

Figure 9. Block Figure

diagram9. of CNN
Block architecture
diagram of CNNdesign for binary
architecture classification.
design for binary classification.

Before startingBefore startingprocess,

the training the training process,
we set compileweand
set compile and fitof
fit parameters parameters
our convo-of our convolu-
tional
lutional neural neural
network to:network to:
• •
Loss—binary Loss—binary crossentropy [53],
crossentropy [53],
• •
Optimizer—adam Optimizer—adam
[54], [54],
• •
Batch size—32, Batch size—32,
• •
Epochs—20, Epochs—20,
• • Validation split—0.2.
Validation split—0.2.
The summaryThe summary
of our of our convolutional
convolutional neural networkneural network
for the binaryfor the binary task
classification classification task
can be
can be seen in Table 1.seen in Table 1.

Table 1. Summary of convolutional neural network for binary classification.

Layer (Type) Output Shape Param #

conv2d_6 (Conv2D) (None, 198, 198, 64) 640
activation_9 (Activation) (None, 198, 198, 64) 0
max_pooling2d_6 (MaxPooling2) (None, 99, 99, 64) 0
conv2d_7 (Conv2D) (None, 97, 97, 64) 36928
activation_10 (Activation) (None, 97, 97, 64) 0
max_pooling2d_7 (MaxPooling2) (None, 48, 48, 64) 0
flatten_3 (Flatten) (None, 147456) 0
 Electronics 2022, 11, 230 12 of 20

Table 1. Summary of convolutional neural network for binary classification.

Layer (Type) Output Shape Param #

conv2d_6 (Conv2D) (None, 198, 198, 64) 640
activation_9 (Activation) (None, 198, 198, 64) 0
max_pooling2d_6
(None, 99, 99, 64) 0
(MaxPooling2)
conv2d_7 (Conv2D) (None, 97, 97, 64) 36928
activation_10 (Activation) (None, 97, 97, 64) 0
max_pooling2d_7
(None, 48, 48, 64) 0
(MaxPooling2)
flatten_3 (Flatten) (None, 147456) 0
dense_3 (Dense) (None, 1) 147457
activation_11 (Activation) (None, 1) 0
Total params: 185,025
Trainable params: 185,025
Nontrainable params: 0

In the second task, product quality control using one-class classification will the
trained convolutional neural network needed to be able to classify incoming products into
two classes—OK (wheel without a spoke) and NOK (any other product). Figure 10 shows
nics 2022, 10, x FOR PEER REVIEW the OK products, marked by the yellow rectangle, and some of the many13 of 21
NOK products,
marked by the red rectangle.

Figure 10. Products for10.

Figure theProducts
second for
task:
thedesired
secondstate—yellow rectangle, undesired
task: desired state—yellow rectangle,state—red rec-
undesired state—red rectangle.
tangle.
The process of preparing the dataset for training a convolutional neural network as
The process
wellofaspreparing
designingthethedataset for training
architecture a convolutional
of network neuralfrom
itself is different network as
the previous task. In
well as designing the architecture of network itself is different from the previous
this task, we can only use the images of the products in the desired state from task. In the camera
this task, we can onlysupplemented
tunnel, use the imageswithof the products in the desired
brightness-adjusted images.state
Thefrom
samethe camera
as can be seen in Figure 7,
tunnel, supplemented
to createwith brightness-adjusted
the training images. The
dataset that consisted sameimages.
of 1150 as can be seennoise-added
With in Figure images, it is
7, to create thepossible
trainingthat
dataset that consisted
we would introduce oferror
1150 into
images. With noise-added
the resulting predictionimages,
during training. The
it is possible that we would introduce error into the resulting prediction during training.
images of the undesired states, along with a portion of the images of the desired states,
The images of are
the undesired
subsequentlystates,
onlyalong
usedwith a portion
when testingofthe
thetrained
imagesCNN.of the desired
We alsostates,
augmented the test
are subsequently only some
dataset, used elements
when testing the trained
of which can be CNN.
seen inWe also 11,
Figure augmented the test
with various other objects that
dataset, some elements of which can be seen in Figure 11, with various other objects that
the convolutional neural network must correctly classify as undesired states during test-
ing. The final test dataset contained 1300 images, of which 200 were in the desired state
and the rest in the undesired state.
 this task, we can only use the images of the products in the desired state from the camera
tunnel, supplemented with brightness-adjusted images. The same as can be seen in Figure
7, to create the training dataset that consisted of 1150 images. With noise-added images,
it is possible that we would introduce error into the resulting prediction during training.
Electronics 2022, 11, 230 The images of the undesired states, along with a portion of the images of the desired states,
13 of 20
are subsequently only used when testing the trained CNN. We also augmented the test
dataset, some elements of which can be seen in Figure 11, with various other objects that
the
the convolutional neural network
convolutional neural network must
mustcorrectly
correctlyclassify
classifyasasundesired
undesiredstates
states during
during test-
testing.
ing. The final test dataset contained 1300 images, of which 200 were in the desired state
The final test dataset contained 1300 images, of which 200 were in the desired state and the
and
rest the restundesired
in the in the undesired
state. state.

Figure
Figure 11.
11. Different
Different types
types of
of images
images found
found in
in the
the test
test dataset.
dataset.

In designing
In designingthe thearchitecture
architecture of of
thethe convolutional
convolutional neural
neural network
network we adopted
we adopted a pro-a
procedure where first a mask is applied to the image to ensure the removal
cedure where first a mask is applied to the image to ensure the removal of the influence of the influence
of the
of the coloured
coloured parts
parts ofof the
the LEGO
LEGO building
building blocks
blocks from
from the
the background
backgroundof of the
theimage.
image.
Then, the
Then, the pretrained
pretrained ResNet50,
ResNet50, for for which
which the
the architecture
architecture isis described
described inin [55],
[55], is
is used
used toto
extract features,
extract features, and
and finally
finally the
the output
output of of ResNet50
ResNet50 is is used
used asas an
an input
input to
to the
the one-class
one-class
support vector
support vectormachine
machine(OC-SVM)
(OC-SVM)method.method.This This provides
provides a partitioning
a partitioning between
between the the
in-
interior (desired) and the exterior (undesired) states based on the support
terior (desired) and the exterior (undesired) states based on the support vectors, for which vectors, for
which optimal count needs to be found by fine-tuning the nu parameter
optimal count needs to be found by fine-tuning the nu parameter of the OC-SVM method of the OC-SVM
Electronics 2022, 10, x FOR PEER REVIEW
method
via via gridThe
grid search. search.
proposedThe architecture
proposed architecture
can be seencanin be seen12.
Figure in AFigure
video12. A14video
example
of 21
of
example
Task 2 canofbe
Task
seen2 can be seen in [56].
in [56].

Figure 12. Proposed

Figure 12. Proposed CNN
CNN architecture for one-class
architecture for one-class classification.
classification.

4. Experimental Results
Despite its simplicity, our illustrative and easy-to-modify Education Kit offers the
student a variety of options for solving different tasks of machine vision with support of
deep learning that can be simulated in the production production process,
process, including:
including:
•• Binary classification—convolutional neural network classifies just two types
types of
of prod-
prod-
ucts
ucts on
on the
the line,
line,
•• One-class
One-class classification—convolutional
classification—convolutional neural network
neural distinguishes
network known
distinguishes OK states
known OK
from
statesNOK
from states,
NOK states,
•• Multiclass classification—convolutional neural
Multiclass classification—convolutional neural network
network classifies
classifies products
products into
into sev-
sev-
eral known classes (the production line can be modified by modifying
eral known classes (the production line can be modified by modifying the sorting the sorting
mechanism
mechanism at at the
the end).
end).
When designing our Education Kit,
When designing our Education we focused
Kit, we focused on
on making
making it it simple,
simple, illustrative,
illustrative, and
and
easy to modify, as well as inexpensive in terms of purchasing the components
easy to modify, as well as inexpensive in terms of purchasing the components to build it. to build
it. The
The estimated
estimated costcost
cancan
bebe seen
seen ininTable
Table2 2(not
(notincluding
includingthethecost
cost of
of the
the computer
computer andand
mobile phone).
mobile phone).

Table 2. Cost of creating the Education Kit (not including the cost of the computer and mobile
phone).

Item Price [EUR]

Electronics 2022, 11, 230 14 of 20

Table 2. Cost of creating the Education Kit (not including the cost of the computer and mobile phone).

Item Price [EUR]

LEGO Classic [57] 65
Arduino UNO [58] 18
H-bridge L298N [59] 2.50
battery pack (6x AA battery) [60] 5.50
IR sensor TCRT5000 [61] 1
servomotors (DS04 360 x2) [62] 13.50
servomotor (FS90R) [63] 2.50
Total 108

The results that can be achieved with our Education Kit, despite its simplicity, corre-
spond in both tasks, as can be seen in Table 3—Area Under the ROC Curve (AUC) scores
and Figure 13—Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves and Figure 14—confusion
Electronics 2022, 10, x FOR PEER REVIEW 15 of 21
matrices, to a very accurate prediction.

Table3.3.Evaluation
Table Evaluation of
of CNN predictionaccuracy
CNN prediction accuracyfor
forboth
bothtasks.
tasks.

Binary Classification Task Task

Binary Classification One-ClassOne-Class
Classification Task
Classification Task
AUC score
AUC score
1.00 0.98
1.00 0.98

Figure 13. ROC curves for both tasks (left curve—binary classification, right curve—one-class clas-
Figure 13. ROC curves for both tasks (left curve—binary classification, right curve—one-class classification).
sification).

Figure 14. Confusion matrices for both tasks (left matrix—binary classification, right matrix—one-
Figure 14. Confusion matrices for both tasks (left matrix—binary classification, right matrix—one-
class classification).
class classification).
5. Discussion
The practical evaluation of the proposed education kit in the whole form (hardware
and software) in the context of training and adaptability by the end users (students) was
not able to performed because of pandemic restrictions (closed laboratories for education).
The software part of the educational kit (dataset, proposing of CNN, experiments with
Electronics 2022, 11, 230 15 of 20

5. Discussion
The practical evaluation of the proposed education kit in the whole form (hardware
and software) in the context of training and adaptability by the end users (students) was
not able to performed because of pandemic restrictions (closed laboratories for education).
The software part of the educational kit (dataset, proposing of CNN, experiments with
dataset), however, is currently included in our education course “Machine vision and
computational intelligence”, where students propose their own software quality evaluation
solutions based on this kit. The education kit was presented during a lecture, and this topic
was enjoyable for the students since they had unusual number of questions and showed
interest in diploma theses in similar topics.
Individual types of occurred errors cannot be classified using the current dataset,
which was designed for the second task. To do so, the training dataset would need to be
augmented with images of specific possible occurred errors, and the task and the neural
network architecture would need to be adapted to multiclass classification. Following that,
we could improve our solution by adding the ability to mark the location of defects, which
would help in detecting production errors. For example, if the error always occurred in the
same location, we would know (if it is in the real production process) that these are not
random errors and that we must check the previous processes on the line.
As can be seen in the confusion matrix for the second task, it would be possible to
further work on CNN’s accuracy in recognizing OK products. To this end, it would be
possible to extend the training dataset, where there would be various errors and defects
on the inspected products. It could be possible to generate hundreds or even thousands
of images of real damaged products. For this task, modern techniques such as real-time
dataset generation by 3D modelling software (as Blender [64]) or 3D game engines (as
Unity Computer Vision [65]) can be utilized. With such an augmented dataset, it would be
possible to use other CNN structures aimed at recognizing the location of objects in the
image (in our case, the location of defects and errors on the product) such as the architecture
YOLO: You only look once [66], or SSD: Single Shot MultiBox Detector [67].
Python is a great programming language for working with images and creating and
training convolutional neural networks, but it did not provide us with as many options
when designing GUI. This deficiency could be remedied by using Windows Presentation
Foundation (WPF), which gives the user a lot of freedom in designing the GUI window
and is also more user-friendly. However, WPF is based on the NET platform, so we need
to use one of the libraries that allow us to load a trained convolutional neural network
from Python, such as ML.NET. ML.NET supports basic classifications such as binary
and multiclass, allows loading pretrained neural networks, but also includes a model
builder for creating and training neural networks. A GUI window design created in a WPF
environment that could be used with ML.NET library can be seen in Figure 15.
 Foundation (WPF), which gives the user a lot of freedom in designing the GUI window
and is also more user-friendly. However, WPF is based on the NET platform, so we need
to use one of the libraries that allow us to load a trained convolutional neural network
from Python, such as ML.NET. ML.NET supports basic classifications such as binary and
multiclass, allows loading pretrained neural networks, but also includes a model builder
Electronics 2022, 11, 230 16 of 20
for creating and training neural networks. A GUI window design created in a WPF envi-
ronment that could be used with ML.NET library can be seen in Figure 15.

Figure 15. GUI window design

Figure 15. in WPF environment.
GUI window design in WPF environment.

Testing of the Testing

proposed of convolutional neural networks
the proposed convolutional in the
neural production
networks process
in the of
production process of
our production ourline was carried
production lineout
wasin carried
both tasks
out on 20 pieces
in both tasksofonproducts
20 piecesthat passed that passed
of products
through the line. Examples
through of the
the line. testing for
Examples bothtesting
of the tasks can be seen
for both in the
tasks can videos
be seenavailable
in the videos available
on the
lectronics 2022, 10, x FOR PEER REVIEW link in the
on Supplementary
the link in the Materials
Supplementary section. A sample
Materials of some
section. A of the
sample testing
of some17results
of
of the
21 testing results
for the second for
taskthe
can be seen in Figure 16.
second task can be seen in Figure 16.

Figure 16. Results of testing CNN for second task—one-class classification.

Figure 16. Results of testing CNN for second task—one-class classification.
6. Conclusions
This article deals with the proposal of a low-cost education kit aimed at selected dig-
ital technologies for Industry 4.0, such as convolutional neural networks, deep learning,
machine vision and quality control.
Electronics 2022, 11, 230 17 of 20

6. Conclusions
This article deals with the proposal of a low-cost education kit aimed at selected
digital technologies for Industry 4.0, such as convolutional neural networks, deep learning,
machine vision and quality control.
Industry 4.0 brings with it many challenges and opportunities for young, enthusiastic
engineers. However, in order to meet these challenges, they need to have a solid foundation
in the field, and it is this foundation that the school can provide them with, where they
have the opportunity to become acquainted with the issues and try solving various tasks in
this area. However, solving the problems requires various hardware and software tools,
which are often expensive, not always easy to access and need to be constantly improved
as technology advances.
Universities emphasize their role as innovation testbeds and educators for future gen-
erations in the development of future technologies. Traditional education has contributed
significantly to current levels of economic development and technological advancement.
As a result, incorporating Industry 4.0 concepts into engineering curricula is one of the top
priorities of academic institutions. Based on a review of the available literature and current
research projects, it can be concluded that using low-cost equipment and designing low-cost
kits is a typical occurrence in academic and university practice. The survey’s findings show
that in the context of Industry 4.0, low-cost equipment can be used to educate high-tech
technologies. In academics, hardware such as the Arduino or the LEGO kit have shown
to be popular. We were motivated and encouraged to design our own low-cost kit as a
result of this review. Furthermore, we discovered that the topics we wish to address (deep
learning, machine vision, and quality control) are not covered in these works, indicating
that our kit could be useful in these fields. The deep overview of the literature can serve
readers as an inspiration for their future research or development of their own low-cost
educational solutions. Moreover, the need for learning new digital technologies is not just
for universities; it is necessary to cover the whole range of education levels from primary,
secondary, and higher education to even postgraduate lifelong learning of professionals
with an engineering background (e.g., following the Swedish Ingenjör4.0).
In this work, we presented our own design and implementation of a low-cost education
kit. Based on the literature review, we have identified that current works and low-cost
solutions do not address topics such as deep learning, convolutional neural networks,
machine vision and quality control. This was an encouragement to create a new low-cost
educational solution that could be an original solution and enrich the current state of
the field. The kit is simple, illustrative, easy to modify, and interesting and appealing
for students to work with, as it combines elements of electronics (Arduino), mechanics
(production line), control (sensors and actuators), computer science (convolutional neural
networks, GUI) and communication—the entire mechatronics spectrum. The Education
Kit uses inexpensive and readily available components, such as the Arduino, the LEGO
kit, and the smartphone camera, to ensure its modifiability and accessibility to schools.
With our proposed Kit, various product quality control tasks can be solved using machine
vision-supported convolutional neural networks, such as binary classification, multiclass
classification, real-time YOLO applications, or one-class classification tasks, to distinguish
a desired state from any other, undesired, state. The educational kit’s software component
(dataset, CNN proposal, dataset experiments) is presently included in our education
course “Machine vision and computational intelligence”, where students propose their own
software quality-evaluation solutions based on this kit. The education kit was provided
during a lecture, and the students found this topic to be interesting since they asked
an uncommon number of questions and expressed interest in diploma thesis themes on
similar issues.
The future developments of the educational kit can be achieved especially on the
software side of the solution. The training dataset can be augmented with images of
specific hypothetical faults, and the task and neural network architecture can be than
changed to allow multiclass classification. Modern techniques, such as real-time dataset
Electronics 2022, 11, 230 18 of 20

generation by 3D modelling software or 3D game engines, can be used for such dataset
augmentation. Following that, we may expand our educational kit by allowing users to
mark the location of faults.
We believe that our kit will become a quality learning tool in educating the next
generation of young engineers, and will help them open the door to the world of Industry
4.0 technologies.

Supplementary Materials: Video examples can be found here: https://drive.google.com/drive/

folders/1psvumJAJmNU7LAPjgiwPiyzHSMzzeWR-?usp=sharing (accessed on 8 December 2021).
Author Contributions: Conceptualization, M.P. and O.H.; methodology, O.H.; software, M.P.; valida-
tion, O.H. and P.D.; resources, M.P., O.H., E.K. and P.D.; writing—original draft preparation, M.P.;
writing—review and editing, O.H.; supervision, E.K. and P.D.; project administration, P.D.; funding
acquisition, P.D. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Funding: This research was funded by the Slovak research and Development Agency under the
contract no. APVV-17-0190 and by the Cultural and Educational Grant Agency of the Ministry of
Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic 016STU-4/2020 and 039STU-4/2021.
Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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